dewatering

High-viscosity crude oils from the Yablunivske field (Ukraine, Poltava region) have been studied. The oils were diluted with gas condensate to reduce viscosity, and then various demulsifiers were added. It was established that it is expedient to dilute oil with heavy gas condensate and dehydrate it with PM-1441 brand A non-ionogenic demulsifier, based on block copolymers of ethylene and propylene oxides. The dewatering degree was found to be 95 %.

Three different macromolecular structures of poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) copolymers, used in formulations of commercial demulsifiers for breaking water-in-crude oil emulsions, were investigated. The interfacial activity (), the lower interfacial tension (m), the critical micelle concentration (CMC), the interfacial concentration (Γ) and the molecular area (A) adsorbed at the interface of the surfactant solutions were evaluated. These results were correlated to surfactant performance in coalescing three different asphaltene model emulsions.